Simone Heng Heng

Simone Heng is a human connection specialist and former international broadcaster for Virgin Radio Dubai, HBO Asia, and CNBC, among others. She is an accredited certified speaking professional. With over 20 years of experience around the world as a communicator on-air, on stage, and one-on-one, connection has always been her life’s work.

As a speaker, Simone inspires people to connect in a world thirsty for connection. She has spoken to audiences of thousands and for clients that include Facebook/Meta, Google, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Salesforce, SAP, TEDx, SXSW and The United Nations. Simone and her work have been featured in Forbes, Vogue, Elle, South China Morning Post, CNN, and many more

Simone’s debut book on human connection, “Secret Pandemic: The Search for Connection in a Lonely World” is a Singaporean bestseller as well as an Amazon US Number 1 best-seller in the Social Science Reference category.

Simone’s writing has been described by the Kirkus Review as: “The book does a good job of making itself relevant by demonstrating the depth of the global problem of loneliness, and the author’s international perspective brings some variety to an often America-centric genre. Heng has a talent for vivid imagery... , which makes the volume an easy and engaging read.”

Simone is also a sought-after communications coach and has created her own membership community centred around public speaking. CourageousSpeaking.com was launched in 2020 with the mission of empowering Asian women to speak up.

Book Description

The world was in a loneliness crisis long before Covid-19.

As human beings, our brains are wired for connection. The feelings of disconnectedness people are facing today—isolation within our families, digital addiction, emotional trauma— hold worrying consequences for our mental well-being.

We’ve lost touch with the human tribe we were born into.

In this compelling guide to navigating connection in our modern world, human connection phenom Simone Heng walks you through the meaning of human connection as it relates to every aspect of life. Learn how to distinguish authentic connection from fake substitutes, understand how family trauma affects the way you connect with others, and discover the precise orbits of friendship you need to feel socially fulfilled.

Human connection is one of our most essential needs. With Secret Pandemic: The Search for Connection in a Lonely World, you can stop searching for it and start living it, forging the genuine connections we all crave.